Small breasts. Mammoplasty for breast augmentation: how it goes, how much it costs, rehabilitation, indications and contraindications

Mammoplasty is an operation that takes first place among plastic surgery to correct deficiencies. Small breasts are no longer the only option given by nature forever.

What is mammoplasty

Mammoplasty is a type of surgical intervention during which the shape and volume of a small or sagging breast are transformed by installation inside implants. The operation makes it possible to change the contour of the chest, the shape of the nipples, the volume, as well as the outline of the halo.

Indications for mammoplasty

The operation is performed for aesthetic and medical reasons:

• atrophy of the chest – may appear after a period of lactation, breastfeeding the baby;
• small size – increase with an implant;
• mastoptosis – a state of breast prolapse, which is observed with age or after lactation;
• the need for reconstruction , which allows to give a more aesthetic appearance of the breast, in the presence of unaesthetic scars remaining after removal of neoplasms;
• large breast size , inconvenience in everyday life.

Contraindications to mammoplasty

Small breasts with mammoplasty are easily corrected, but before the operation it is necessary to clarify all the nuances related to health, since there are a number of contraindications to this procedure:

• age less than 18 years;
• neoplasms in the chest or inflammatory process;
• pregnancy;
• period of feeding.

It is important to know that breast augmentation at an early age will not prevent its physiological sagging associated with aging and pregnancy.

In addition, after removal of the prostheses, there will remain hollows and scars on the chest; additional surgery to correct the breast may be necessary.

Types of mammoplasty

There are several options for the location of the implant, as well as methods for installing it, related to access features.

Such methods of implant placement are distinguished as:

• submammary;
• periareolar;
• installation through axillary access.

Submammary – is used most often and is characterized by fewer possible side effects and contraindications. The incision is made below, under the gland, and is 1’6 inch.

The location of the incision in the chest fold allows you to provide a direct path to the implant, so that the time spent on surgery is reduced. Among the shortcomings of such an incision, it is necessary to highlight the presence of a visible scar, the shift of the fold after the operation.

With the periareolar installation method, the incision is made on the halos line, so that the postoperative scar will be barely noticeable. Such an operation increases the risk of developing an infection, cysts, or microcalcinosis. In rare cases, nerve damage is possible, which is responsible for the sensitivity of the nipple and areola.

The advantage of an axillary incision is that there are no traces on the chest, but at the same time difficulties are created when forming the cavity for the implant. In addition, there is a risk of nerve damage, and there are also difficulties in the symmetrical arrangement of implants.

Methods of mammoplasty

There are 3 methods for installing the implant:

• subglandular (under the mammary gland);
• submuscular (under the pectoral muscle);
• combined (dual plane method).

The most common method is subglandular. E the installation procedure under the breast. It is often used because the location is more natural and the implant does not press on the muscle.

Submuscular method – involves the location under the pectoral muscle . This method is used in cases where the girl’s natural breasts are small. With this arrangement, a section of muscle tissue is preserved, which ensures the natural position of the chest.

The latter method is based on the introduction of an implant under the pectoral muscle and mammary gland. The upper part remains under the pectoral muscle, the lower is located under the gland. This technology minimizes the possibility of displacement of the implant from the installation site.

What implants are

Small breasts (mammoplasty allows correcting this deficiency and making breasts of the size that a woman wants) radically transforms for the better when using high-quality prostheses. They can be divided into classes according to the filler, quality, size, elasticity, shape, character.

The filler may be:

• saline;
• silicone;
• filled with biocompatible hydrogel;
• with balls of silica gel;
• difficult to compound.

Silicone implants are more expensive than salt implants; in this regard, they often use salt ones. The disadvantage of salt prostheses is that the liquid can make an audible sound of splashing or gurgling.

The hydrogel is based on carboxymethyl cellulose. Such implants have good elasticity. Their cost is higher than the cost of silicone implants, but they also have their drawbacks. If the structure is disturbed, the hydrogel may leak out, and such “inserts” gradually decrease in volume due to the fact that the liquid leaves through the shell.

Silicone gel can be:

• cohesive;
• highly cohesive.

Highly adhesive gel does not lose elasticity. The implant is completely similar in its properties to natural breasts. Such material is used only anatomically shaped implants.

Implant Shape:

• round;
• anatomical drop-shaped;
• with a high profile.

Anatomical prostheses look drop-like. The implant with a high profile in relation to the usual, the walls are much thicker.

Implants may have a surface:

• smooth;
• textured;
• spongy.

By texture we mean bumps or villi on the surface. This reduces the likelihood of the prosthesis moving, improves adhesion to tissues. Spongy even more reduce the likelihood of a displacement or reversal of the prosthesis, since the connective tissue penetrates the surface of the implant and perfectly fixes it in the chest.

Implants may be:

• fixed;
• adjustable.

The former are valveless, their volume does not change during the operation, the volume of the latter is regulated by the addition or pumping out of saline.

Preparation for surgery

Small breasts (mammoplasty is performed in plastic surgery clinics and first you need to read reviews not only about the institution, but also about plastic surgeons involved in mammoplasty) is a direct indication for mammoplasty.

For the operation to go without complications,
you need to adhere to the recommendations. Following all the advice of a doctor, you can protect yourself from negative consequences, as well as make the postoperative period easier.

Vitamin intake before surgery

In the preoperative period, absolutely everything is important, so the doctor needs to take into account how the patient eats, what supplements and vitamins he takes at the moment. It is likely that the doctor will cancel some groups of vitamins for the successful operation. This, for example, refers to vitamin E.

A few weeks before the operation, it is necessary to exclude the reception:

• aspirin;
• non-steroid group drugs that affect the circulatory system;
• steroid group drugs.

If refusal to take drugs is impossible, the date of the operation is postponed for an indefinite period, since in such conditions it is risky to carry out the operation.

Contraception

Hormonal contraception or transdermal systems with the same composition have different effects on the course of surgery and subsequent recovery of the body. To accept or not to take contraceptives, the doctor decides during the preparation for mammoplasty.

If the operation and the postoperative period were successful, then after a month you can begin to use the usual methods of protection again without restrictions.

Alcohol and cigarette smoking

The preparation stage requires a complete rejection of the use of alcohol and tobacco. It is best to stop using them a couple of months before surgery.

Shortly before mammoplasty, in no case should you smoke or take alcohol. Alcohol affects the cardiovascular system, and also reduces the body’s regenerative abilities.

Anesthesia requires a complete absence of alcohol in the blood, since their combination can lead to death.

Nicotine constricts blood vessels, disrupts blood microcirculation and the transport function of blood. When smoking in the postoperative period, the metabolism slows down.

Additional training measures

Since the operating process is a great stress for the body as a whole, in a couple of months it is necessary to begin to follow simple rules and recommendations:

1. It is necessary to establish a working day, to exclude processing and overwork.
2. You should adjust the dream: go to bed not too late to fully get enough sleep. Athletes need to reduce physical activity, to exclude high-intensity training.
3. In the diet, it is necessary to include products that stimulate metabolism. And you need to refuse salty, spicy, soda, fast food.
4. Free clothing should be purchased in advance.

Rehabilitation period after mammoplasty

To fully recover, it should take from 6 to 12 months from the date of surgery. By following the rules, you can facilitate the recovery process and speed it up as much as possible.

The first days the girl is in the hospital . During this period, it is necessary to wear compression underwear so that the implants remain in place and do not shift to the side.

The first 5 days are not allowed to raise your hands up.

After discharge, do not refuse compression underwear. It is recommended to wear it for a month. During the rehabilitation period, it is required to abandon playing sports and lifting weights so as not to strain the pectoral muscle. The only physical activity that is allowed is moderate walking.

14 days after surgery, you need to monitor posture during sleep. You need to sleep on your back or side, and only after a month can you occasionally lie on your stomach. The first two months it is forbidden to go to the sauna, tanning beds, sunbathe in direct sunlight.

Complications after mammoplasty

Complications can occur immediately after surgery or after a couple of months.

Breast swelling

Small breasts (mammoplasty is accompanied by many side effects, since the intervention is serious) or medium is enlarged, edema appears in absolutely all patients. This is due to tissue trauma during surgery.

Edema lasting up to 2 weeks is considered normal. If after 2 weeks he did not come down, then the reasons for this may be a violation of the doctor’s recommendations for the rehabilitation period, namely the adoption of sun and heat baths, the refusal of special underwear, physical activity.

Seroma

Due to the accumulation of intercellular fluid, the breast enlarges. This is due to trauma during surgery.  If seroma develops, then the fluid is pumped out with a syringe.

Bleeding

Rarely, there are cases when, upon completion of the operation, the surgeon leaves the vessel unstitched. This leads to a hematoma in the area of the implant. The hematoma changes the shape and symmetry of the mammary glands. The breast in which the hematoma is present increases in volume, and under the skin you can see a brown clot at the site of blood accumulation.

Pain can be present and absent, pain is not a significant indicator.

Loss of elasticity and mastoptosis

Mastotosis can develop when an implant is placed under the mammary gland. Women are at risk for women who had initial signs of sagging before surgery.

If mastoptosis develops, then you need to perform a surgery to tighten or replace the prosthesis with a large one.

Implant Contouring

For thin girls who do not have subcutaneous fat, the contour of the implant may appear.  The problem is solved by the introduction of filler or lipofilling of the breast.

Bias

Each prosthesis can change its position in the chest, even if it is tightly fixed. Small changes in position are controlled by compression garments worn during the rehabilitation period.

Scars and scars

The state of postoperative scars is affected by the body’s tendency to form hypertrophic scars and measures to care for the incision site.

Subtle scars will remain anyway, but they will not be very noticeable.

Lack of sensitivity

Loss of sensitivity may occur due to nerve damage. Often this complication
is observed with incisions near the nipple, less often during surgery in the axillary and pectoral areas.

Results of mammoplasty

After the operation, it should take about 6 months, so that the body is fully adapted and a full result is noticeable. If you follow all the recommendations and go to a regular examination with a doctor, the result will appear earlier than 6 months.

At least 12 months should pass before re-pregnancy after surgery. This is the standard time for full breast healing. After pregnancy, the breast may begin to sag due to the influx of milk or feeding, therefore, correction or tightening surgery will be required in the future.

If, after an implant implantation operation, a girl loses weight (but not dramatically), then nothing bad will happen to her breasts, as some amount of subcutaneous fat will remain.

Service cost

If the girl decided on such an operation, then she should count on an amount of $ 2312 – this is the average price.  When choosing round prostheses, the operation will cost at least $ 1904, anatomical ones will cost $ 2448.

When can I give birth

After mammoplasty surgery, you can become pregnant and give birth. The only limitation after surgery is to withstand one year before the start of pregnancy.

After such an operation, there is no restriction on breastfeeding, since with or without an implant, milk will be produced in the same way as a woman who has not had the operation.

Doing sports after mammoplasty

You can start playing sports only after 6 months from the day of the operation, since during the rehabilitation period sports loads are prohibited. From physical exertion, only walking at a moderate pace is permissible.

With a fast current recovery, after 3 months, the doctor can approve of athletics, subject to sparing loads.

The general terms for returning to the sport are individual for each, therefore it is important to consult with your personal doctor on this issue.

The duration of rehabilitation is affected by:

• implant size;
• implant shape;
• chest density;
• surgeon technique;
• method of placement of the implant.

If the implant is large, then the timing of returning to the sport can move significantly. This is necessary for the full recovery of the body, as well as the healing of tissues in the chest. The method of placement of the implant also affects the period of return to sport, for example, if it is placed under the muscle, it will be necessary to completely eliminate the load on the shoulder girdle for at least 6 weeks.

When can I start a sex life

You can begin sexual activity with a partner no earlier than two months after the operation. By violating this prohibition, there is a risk of significantly increasing health risks. In case of complications, corrective operations may be required.

The ban is due to the fact that in the process of intimacy the body experiences a large hormonal and physical stress. Perhaps the occasional involvement of the muscles of the shoulder girdle, as well as movements shaking the chest. All this is by no means recommended in the rehabilitation process.

Injection mammoplasty – what is it

There are several ways to increase breasts. Surgical – requires surgical intervention, an incision is made through which an implant will be inserted into the girl’s chest.

The second method is non-surgical. Some aesthetic clinics offer just it, because after it there are no scars and scars. The procedure itself is elementary: different fillers are injected into the mammary glands.

This method of breast augmentation has gained the greatest popularity in the last 10 years. This method of breast augmentation is less costly. To perform the operation, general anesthesia is not necessary, and rehabilitation will be faster than usual. In the end, the girl will get a more realistic breast, in which there will definitely be no contours of the implants.

Such an operation has a negative effect, it is only one. When you enter the filler, it is limited to nothing, therefore, it can spread throughout the mammary gland, as well as uncontrollably penetrate into the tissues of the organ and not only.

There are some side effects:

• deformation;
• discomfort;
• soreness;
• filler movement;
• difficulty in diagnosing breast diseases.

All these effects can occur immediately or after some time, or they may not appear at all – it all depends on the individual characteristics of the body.

With the help of mammoplasty, it is easy to enlarge a small breast, but before the operation it is worth weighing the pros and cons, given the possibility of complications, contraindications and the need for surgery. It is worth paying attention not only to the condition in the postoperative period, but also to the procedure.

Author: Karpov Nikita

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